Animals: Mice

Description from the publisher:

The peaceful kingdom of Mythe has been unexpectedly raided by the evil red dragon and his monster companions! The red dragon has taken away the golden Sacred Cheese, the symbol of the kingdom's prosperity and unity, and the fate of the kingdom is now in peril. The brave young heroes of Mythe must now set out on a desperate journey to the dragon's castle and recover the Sacred Cheese!

The players in Mythe, as mice heroes, must travel to the castle of the red dragon, where one of them has to defeat the evil creature and recover the Sacred Cheese. The player who does this wins the game! To progress on their journey, players must draw cards from other players' hands, one by one. When a player has decided that they have taken enough cards, they can decide to advance their hero on the game board. However, if a player draws a Obstacle card, then the hero must stop and deal with the mishap, not moving on that turn.

When a player finishes their turn (whether they advanced or not), they may then redistribute any of their cards to the other players. To win the game, a hero must have one of the legendary cards — Shield, Sword, or Fairy — then move onto the Dragon's space to defeat him and save the Sacred Cheese.

In the original release — named マイス, which is Japanese for "mice" — the mice heroes were trying to save a princess from the dragon.

The players interpret the role of witches involved in battle to become 'Queen of Witches'.

Every player has at his/her disposal a chest full of mice. Mice yes! In the game the mouse represents the 'magical power' of the witches. Each player starts each game with ten mice. During the game mice will be killed by spells and the winner will be the only player having at least one mouse left in his/her chest!

Game description from the publisher:

In Mice and Mystics players take on the roles of those still loyal to the king – but to escape the clutches of Vanestra, they have been turned into mice! Play as cunning field mice who must race through a castle now twenty times larger than before. The castle would be a dangerous place with Vanestra's minions in control, but now countless other terrors also await heroes who are but the size of figs. Play as nimble Prince Collin and fence your way past your foes, or try Nez Bellows, the burly smith. Confound your foes as the wizened old mouse Maginos, or protect your companions as Tilda, the castle's former healer. Every player will have a vital role in the quest to warn the king, and it will take careful planning to find Vanestra's weakness and defeat her.

Mice and Mystics is a cooperative adventure game in which the players work together to save an imperiled kingdom. They will face countless adversaries such as rats, cockroaches, and spiders, and of course the greatest of all horrors: the castle's housecat, Brodie. Mice and Mystics is a boldly innovative game that thrusts players into an ever-changing, interactive environment, and features a rich storyline that the players help create as they play the game. The Cheese System allows players to hoard the crumbs of precious cheese they find on their journey, and use it to bolster their mice with grandiose new abilities and overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

Mice and Mystics will provide any group of friends with an unforgettable adventure they will be talking about for years to come – assuming they can all squeak by...

Expansion advice:

For those who have expansions for this game the recommended order by the game designer for playing them is as follows (see original post HERE):

Sorrow and Remembrance (Base game)
Cat's Cradle (Lost Chapter 1)
Heart of Glorm
The Ghost of Castle Andon (Lost Chapter 2)